GTA IV out

[fustercluck]

The general consensus now is it's a really bad port and runs much more slugglishly than it should. Also a big annoyance to me is how they force you to try and use a 360 controller or nothing else. Can't use any other kind of controller for this game. Ayeayeaye. It's always a pain in the ass trying to get controllers to work in PC games.

 

[pcslookout]

This game release is the worst ever. Makes me very thankful of how much better the Left 4 Dead release was.

 

[jonks]

Originally posted by: novasatori
if you buy it you wont be playing much from what i've read

rumor has it 1280x1024 on SLI 280 (forgot SLI isn't even supported yet so throw your extra 280 away) or CF4870x2 will get you barely playable FPS.

why rely on rumor, there is this thing called the internet. People are posting benchmarks on plenty of forums. GIYF. One poster had a single gtx280 running it at 1920x1080 with high/very high settings avging 47fps.

Demanding? sure. Insane? not even close. welcome to pc gaming.

Found this. Certainly explains why some ppl are having probs if they are running at 1900x with very high settings and a draw distance of 100.

Note that Xfire but NOT SLI is implemented:

THE GRAPHIC SETTINGS OF GRAND THEFT AUTO IV PC

Most users using current PC hardware as of December 2008 are advised to use medium graphics settings. Higher settings are provided for future generations of PCs with higher specifications than are currently widely available.

Graphics settings are limited by system resources by default. 256MB video cards force minimum settings by default. If a user bypasses these safety measures using command line arguments and exceeds their system resources, the users gaming experience may be compromised.


Video Mode
Resolution scaling effects water, reflections, shadows, mirrors and the visible viewable distance. The resolution settings relate to the amount of available video memory. At 2560*1600 the game will require 320MB of video memory in addition to all the memory required for content. At 800*600 the game will require 32MB of video memory in addition to the content. Medium resolution settings are recommended for most users as higher settings are only usable if there is available video memory.

Texture Quality
Texture quality affects the visual quality of the content of the game. High setting for textures will require 600MB of video memory at a setting of 21 View Distance in addition to the memory taken by the Video Mode. A medium texture setting is recommended for most users.

Render Quality
Render quality is the texture filter quality used on most things in the world rendering. Most people would know this as anisotropic filtering. Medium settings are recommended for most users and will provide filtering beyond what the console versions can execute.

View Distance
View distance scales the distance in which different objects in the world such as building and cars are seen. Raising this option increases the distance in which high quality objects must be loaded and will increase the memory it requires. Restrictions are established to ensure the game runs optimally for most users. A setting of 22 (OUT OF 100!!!) or more will provide PC users an enhanced experience over the console versions.

Detail Distance
Detail distance scales aspects of the environment that the View Distance setting does not including vegetation, trash and other moveable objects. A setting of 10 would be the equivalent to the performance on a console. This setting has little effect on memory.

Vehicle Density
Vehicle density scales the traffic density of the traffic in the game. It has no effect on the mission vehicles or difficultly of the game, but can have a significant impact on CPU performance

Shadow Density
Shadow Density controls the number of shadows generated for positional lights in exterior environments. These shadows are exclusive to the PC version and can have a major impact on CPU and GPU performance.

Crossfire/SLI
With the latest ATI driver (8-11 series) the game supports crossfire modes (ie. 4870x2)
SLI is currently unsupported. Support will be added through a future game patch as well as an updated Nvidia driver.


NOTE: Background Processes
Certain background processes can have a detrimental effect on system performance when playing GTA IV, especially on systems with minimum required system memory. Users should ensure they disable their Virus scans (especially ?on-access? type scans) when running the game to maximize performance.

 

[nerp]

I suspect there might be a patch or two down the road to improve performance a little. At least, I'd hope.

 

[fustercluck]

Rockstar doesn't let you configure what video options you want to use. They limit them for some reasons.

My game looks really weird...I can't figure it out. There's a bunch of pixel fuzz around everything. I took a screen shot

Tried many different video settings, from drastically different to minor changes, restarted the game each time, and still had the fuzz everywhere (the green dots in the pic are just because it's a gif file but everything else is accurate).

Realllllly hope a patch comes out soon. Rockstar seems like a smart company, so I think the issues will be addressed before long. I spent the first two hours trying to setup the controls to my liking (which ended it me having to use Joytokey since the game doesn't support anything but the xbox 360 controller). Now I'm having many graphical problems.

The game actually seems to run well though, good fps and everything, just got this weird pixel fuzz. Something to do with light bloom it seems. Again nothing in the game is very customizable, including video settings. It's like they tried to make everything a pain in the ass. Wish they just kept it simple.

And it's also a pain to have to sign in to two different services just to play the game. This of course added on to the long startup of the game, with many different loading screens.

 

[Red Storm]

Originally posted by: wankawitz
Rockstar doesn't let you configure what video options you want to use. They limit them for some reasons.

My game looks really weird...I can't figure it out. There's a bunch of pixel fuzz around everything. I took a screen shot

Tried many different video settings, from drastically different to minor changes, restarted the game each time, and still had the fuzz everywhere (the green dots in the pic are just because it's a gif file but everything else is accurate).

Realllllly hope a patch comes out soon. Rockstar seems like a smart company, so I think the issues will be addressed before long. I spent the first two hours trying to setup the controls to my liking (which ended it me having to use Joytokey since the game doesn't support anything but the xbox 360 controller). Now I'm having many graphical problems.

The game actually seems to run well though, good fps and everything, just got this weird pixel fuzz. Something to do with light bloom it seems. Again nothing in the game is very customizable, including video settings. It's like they tried to make everything a pain in the ass. Wish they just kept it simple.

And it's also a pain to have to sign in to two different services just to play the game. This of course added on to the long startup of the game, with many different loading screens.

I'm having the exact same issue. What video card are you using? I'm running it on a 4870 512MB.

 

[geno]

Originally posted by: Red Storm
So I seem to be having a strange issue that I can't figure out. In the options, when I try to change the resolution, it won't go past 1776x1000. I try to go to 1920x1080 (my native res) but the bar just jumps back two spots. Holding the right arrow just makes it jump back and forth. This is also happening with view distance; I can hold the mouse and drag it up, but as soon as I let go it drops back to 30. :Q

You don't have enough vid ram to make it happen. The game will limit you to how detailed you can make the game.

 

[zerocool84]

I guess I'm waiting until they patch this game a couple times to get it right.

 

[fustercluck]

Originally posted by: Red Storm

I'm having the exact same issue. What video card are you using? I'm running it on a 4870 512MB.

I'm using a Radeon X1950 pro.

The game looks really weird...gonna have to get rid of this game if they don't patch it soon. The port is garbage. They rushed it to get it out for the holiday season. Rockstar has been pretty good in the past.

 

[Eric62]

I just came home from Fry's with a $45 copy. Let's see how well it works for me...

 

[minmaster]

so basically it runs like crysis?

 

[ConstipatedVigilante]

Originally posted by: minmaster
so basically it runs like crysis?

It sounds like it runs worse. :shocked:
A shitty port indeed - it didn't even look that good on my friends' 360s.

 

[Polish3d]

If they can't respect PC users enough to deliver a decent product, they aren't getting any of my money

 

[OCGuy]

The pop-in on my 360 was horrible. Ill wait the PC version out until I get more info on the graphics. I wouldnt want my puny little rig having trouble

 

[ConstipatedVigilante]

Originally posted by: Polish3d
If they can't respect PC users enough to deliver a decent product, they aren't getting any of my money

Seriously.

"The game runs slow on current PCs? Uhh....Just tell them that it's meant for next-gen hardware. They bought it with Crysis."

 

[SpunkyJones]

Originally posted by: Ocguy31
The pop-in on my 360 was horrible. Ill wait the PC version out until I get more info on the graphics. I wouldnt want my puny little rig having trouble

I didn't like how it looked on my PS3 either, I was hoping for it to be better on the PC.

Guess I'll wait and see if patches take care of this, at least I still have Fallout 3 to entertain me for now.

 

[pcslookout]

Originally posted by: geno

Originally posted by: Red Storm
So I seem to be having a strange issue that I can't figure out. In the options, when I try to change the resolution, it won't go past 1776x1000. I try to go to 1920x1080 (my native res) but the bar just jumps back two spots. Holding the right arrow just makes it jump back and forth. This is also happening with view distance; I can hold the mouse and drag it up, but as soon as I let go it drops back to 30. :Q

You don't have enough vid ram to make it happen. The game will limit you to how detailed you can make the game.

Oh that sucks for lcd users Is there anyway to override this feature?

 

[Red Storm]

Originally posted by: pcslookout

Originally posted by: geno

Originally posted by: Red Storm
So I seem to be having a strange issue that I can't figure out. In the options, when I try to change the resolution, it won't go past 1776x1000. I try to go to 1920x1080 (my native res) but the bar just jumps back two spots. Holding the right arrow just makes it jump back and forth. This is also happening with view distance; I can hold the mouse and drag it up, but as soon as I let go it drops back to 30. :Q

You don't have enough vid ram to make it happen. The game will limit you to how detailed you can make the game.

Oh that sucks for lcd users Is there anyway to override this feature?

I know I can't believe it, at least Crysis gave me the option of bringing my system down its knees. This is just stupid.

 

[Eric62]

Has anybody tried installing it on XP SP2? I really hate the idea of adding more Windows crap to my system.
Also has anybody installed it on a different drive then their OS is on? My C drive only has 6 gb free space, so I'm trying to install it on my D drive which is a separate HDD.
So far nothing but problems for me...

 

[bamacre]

If you all remember, GTA3 played like crap when it was released for PC.

This is a brand new engine for the GTA series. GTA3, VC, and SA were all based upon the same engine, improved upon as time went on. I suspect this new engine will be used by R* for some time, and get some improvements as well along the way.

Aside from those having technical problems, glitches, etc., I don't understand why people are saying this is a bad port. At medium settings, it looks better than the console versions, and certainly looks better than the 3 previous GTA titles, too. This is a good thing, because there is plenty of room for improvement and growth, not only for future hardware, but also for future GTA series games that will based on this engine.

I'm playing on what I consider to be mid-range hardware, Q6600, 4GB, and a 512MB 8800 GTS. It plays well on this. Those who have similar spec's or better and who are having problems should be fine after an admittedly much-needed patch.

The game is very cpu-intensive. You really should have a 3Ghz dual core or quad core processor for this game. The pedestrians and cars use a lot of processing power. Video ram is also important. 256MB video cards aren't going to cut it, and with 512MB 9800 GT's selling for a buck twenty, there's no reason for hardcore gamers to have problems here.

And I definitely think another big problem people are having is system memory. I see a lot of upset people using 2GB of system memory. MEMORY IS UBER CHEAP. Get some. 2GB modules for $17.75 people. Absolutely NO reason for gamers to be running 2GB of system memory. For this game, you should definitely be running 3GB minimum, and that should be very beneficial compared to running 2GB (especially Vista users). And did I mention its cheap? And inexpensive? And very affordable, too?

 

[quadomatic]

Originally posted by: roid450

Originally posted by: quadomatic
The game runs like absolute crap on my system (not to mention textures not loading), even with the sliders turned almost all the way down. I'm pretty angry...

Prolly ur vid card to blame. i have both a 9600GT superclocked and a Core 216, the 9600gt gets almost exactly half the FPS as my GTX does in mostly all my games. I have yet to run GTA4 on my PC but by what I saw on my friends PC (QX9850 or something at stock 3ghz, and the rest of his system is exactly like mine except hes got a 8800GT) I think I will be waiting for a while to see if maybe they patch it and fix how it has to run on Medium. maybe i will download the game and if it runs very good at high settings on my PC, I will buy it for sure. but if it indeed runs like crap, I won't buy it.

Actually, the my 9600GSO isn't that bad...it would kick the crap out of the 9600GT. My overclock puts it somewhere 8800GTS G90 and 8800GT.

That being said, the game should run well on my setup, but it doesn't. I blame rockstar for screwing this up.

After running benchmarks, I found that the fps really doesn't change too much going from the absolute lowest settings at 800x600 to medium texture settings and highest rendering settings at 1280x1024. In fact, I had a higher avg. frame rate on highest rendering settings than at medium render settings. Odd, eh? Right now my framerate usually stays between 20 and 30 fps, occasionally dipping to 17.

I thought this was a cpu bottleneck problem, but since people with considerably more powerful CPUs than me, and even faster video card with plenty of VRAM are having issues, I'm going to say that this is a CPU issue, and the blame is all rockstar's. Hopefully we'll see a patch get released real soon.

 

[pcslookout]

Originally posted by: Eric62
Has anybody tried installing it on XP SP2? I really hate the idea of adding more Windows crap to my system.
Also has anybody installed it on a different drive then their OS is on? My C drive only has 6 gb free space, so I'm trying to install it on my D drive which is a separate HDD.
So far nothing but problems for me...

I plan on installing it with Deepfreeze or another program like it then after I am done playing restart pc. That way I don't have to worry about all of that extra stuff I need for the stupid game to slow down my pc.

 

[CKent]

Originally posted by: HeroOfPellinor
I'd be interested in the game too.......if I was still 17 and pissed off at my parents and teachers and the chicks at school who ignore me.

 

[bamacre]

Originally posted by: CKent

Originally posted by: HeroOfPellinor
I'd be interested in the game too.......if I was still 17 and pissed off at my parents and teachers and the chicks at school who ignore me.

Perhaps he's just more interested in games meant for more mature gamers. Like WoW, or Halo.

 

[fustercluck]

Originally posted by: bamacre
If you all remember, GTA3 played like crap when it was released for PC.

This is a brand new engine for the GTA series. GTA3, VC, and SA were all based upon the same engine, improved upon as time went on. I suspect this new engine will be used by R* for some time, and get some improvements as well along the way.

Aside from those having technical problems, glitches, etc., I don't understand why people are saying this is a bad port. At medium settings, it looks better than the console versions, and certainly looks better than the 3 previous GTA titles, too. This is a good thing, because there is plenty of room for improvement and growth, not only for future hardware, but also for future GTA series games that will based on this engine.

I'm playing on what I consider to be mid-range hardware, Q6600, 4GB, and a 512MB 8800 GTS. It plays well on this. Those who have similar spec's or better and who are having problems should be fine after an admittedly much-needed patch.

The game is very cpu-intensive. You really should have a 3Ghz dual core or quad core processor for this game. The pedestrians and cars use a lot of processing power. Video ram is also important. 256MB video cards aren't going to cut it, and with 512MB 9800 GT's selling for a buck twenty, there's no reason for hardcore gamers to have problems here.

And I definitely think another big problem people are having is system memory. I see a lot of upset people using 2GB of system memory. MEMORY IS UBER CHEAP. Get some. 2GB modules for $17.75 people. Absolutely NO reason for gamers to be running 2GB of system memory. For this game, you should definitely be running 3GB minimum, and that should be very beneficial compared to running 2GB (especially Vista users). And did I mention its cheap? And inexpensive? And very affordable, too?

Think you're looking too much into system specs. Sure they're important when running a new game, but a lot of people with state of the art computers are having trouble with this game. It's mostly because it's a bad port. I think it probably will improve a lot with patches down the road...but still it was $55 after tax. Even though I got it as a birthday present, I still have buyer's remorse

This is what the game looks like with all the video settings maxed out: my screenshot - I've seen other screenshots that don't look like that though, I don't know what the deal is. As I mentioned before I've tried all different kinds of video settings.